It would be nice for sure, but most of us probably will already have finished it by then. Because even if it were to be a holiday 2025 launch, that’s still a year before the rumored Xbox launch. And that is also assuming Rockstar won’t get it at 60fps on Pro already. I don’t expect it, but still.
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The Pro is going to cost hundreds of £/$ more than the X, it’s only a bad look if a similar product and it’s price performs better than another i.e. regular ps5 vs series X
Sure Pro will have better performance and visuals than the Xbox but so what, it’s going to cost them hundreds more to do so and I imagine even less people will care about the Pro this gen than last gen
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Credit when it is due: I still think Starfield looks great on Series X. Also, I am a 60 fps advocate, but 30 in this game are certainly tolerable.
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Within like a week or so I finished Sword and Fairy 7, Xuan Yuan Sword 7 and Planet of Lana. Last game I was already half way though. But that’s not bad, finally working on that backlog, although Lana and Sword and Fairy 7 are Game Pass, I guess it doesn’t count.
Speaking of Lana, great example of a game that doesn’t have any cutscenes, not really any voice acting and still tells a very cool story. Limbo and Inside did that too. I guess Ori too? Very nice.
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Insomniac’s leak had revealed that PS4 Pro accounts for only 10-15% of the entire PlayStation 4 installed base. If this percentage is similar for Xbox One X as well, it seems obvious to me why Microsoft has decided not to continue with mid-gen consoles.
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Really? I didn’t know that. PS4 Pro came off as “I had to because my enemy is,” while X felt like an improvement, especially since OG One and S to extent needed more. True, PS4 Pro could have done more but yeah.
I’m just guessing but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Xbox One X had a little better %. It was finally a good Xbox console that gen, lots of people upgraded.
My favourite console!
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I’m still keeping mine as well. Loved it !
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As a person who enjoys both platforms, I’m selfishly glad Xbox isn’t making a mid Gen refresh. I don’t want to buy 2 mid gen refresh consoles in one gen lol.
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As a 4090 owner, I hope this means we see RT become more common in games. Need these games to push my card to the limits lol.
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All good points, and some of that explains the wisdom behind not releasing a mid-gen update.
In regards to the PS5 becoming the default platform and all that stuff, I am speaking to perceptions and narratives. Which has so much to do with competition in today’s world.
This Mr Show sketch is the great example of some of that:
I don’t think things will be that bad, it’s just pretty funny and I had to share.
Shareholders who know nothing about gaming could look at the lack of a response from Microsoft and assume the worst. The gaming media might double down on “3rd party” nonsense. When it comes to breaking the mold, you do have to do some work in messaging. Much like how Microsoft had to do it when they announced PC ports, something that ultimately benefited their company as well as gamers.
Even with only 15% of gamers not ready to a PS5 Pro, there’s so much more impact to the narrative rather than the actual sales of the unit.
If Xbox was more aggressive, they would actually speak to it pretty openly. “Why create an upgraded machine for players to use for 2 to 3 years?”. “We find that the performance increase isn’t enough to justify another machine, we’d much rather wait for next generation so that we can see revolutionary new features” “We saw that Nintendo had the right approach with coming out with a whole new machine”. This isn’t Xbox’s style but it would be fair points that would get people to consider the usefulness of these.
So yeah, I’m speaking far more to perceptions & narratives. In the Iron Lords Gaming interview with Peter Moore, they go over how critical consumer and media perception is and how it can make or break your business. It’s a fantastic two-parter that I suggest everyone check out. It’ll be interesting to see how Xbox navigates those waters.
I truly think that if they have their lineup of exclusives roll out as planned that they have less to worry about. That they will be more comparable to Nintendo where the visuals don’t matter as much as the pedigree of the titles. This is why I found the multi-platform announcement to be ill-timed because it might create doubt for every single Xbox exclusive coming out in the next few years.
But say there was a 2025 where you had Gears 6 that looks absolutely incredible, Forza Horizon 6 in Japan, State of Decay 3, a brand new Double Fine game, Everwild, and a few other surprises to the point where this is what people care about most over having cutting edge hardware. It’ll do a lot of the talking.
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I think we gotta give them the opportunity to do so, this isn’t even announced yet. Once it is, I expect they will be asked whether or not they’ll have a response and we already know they have publicly acknowledged their work on the next generation.
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Kinda hoping we get a “it eats monsters for breakfast” announcement from MS just after PS5 Pro is announced in some sort of damage control and to show they have something bigger and better coming out as well, for 2026.
Agreed that if they are coming in 2026, they might as well talk about it. They are already kinda in the gutter for console sales lol. Give some hint what the plans are and assure people of a long cross gen window.
Any of you guys listen to the K Asante / Everborn Saga podcast “The Gamer’s Circle?”
I find that it’s by far my favorite for gaming discussion. Typically very well thought out takes with the occasional interesting theories thrown in. Highly recommend.
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I remember Phil Spencer asking gamers still on Xbox 360 to please go on to Xbox One at some E3 conference a few years ago. I wonder, considering PS5 numbers going down as well, if a decent amount of people are still on Xbox One/PS4 that don’t feel like they need to switch yet as all they play is Overwatch 2, Fortnite, Roblox, Warzone, etc. All games that still work well on older generations and that don’t require a monthly subscription.
Persona is about to left FF in the dust and become the biggest JRPG in the world and by large amount:
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I agree with everything you said except for the seeing PC as competition. I don;t see PC as competitor for any of the three consoles mainly due to the bigger price point of entry, it being 100% all digital, being for content creators as you mentioned and for those who simply want the far superior experience with the ability to customize the way they play their games like with settings, mods, etc.
Also, when you go into a store like Best Buy, PC is it’s own section while all the consoles are in the same section so when you look to buy a console, the other two consoles are right there staring you in the face where as PC isn’t.
Of course, this is how I have always looked at it mainly due to the price point and the simple fact that PC is always a decade or so ahead of what consoles are built as and can do. Consoles are generational where as PC like the mail or time, never ends. lol
Some of the numbers are sky high and I am expecting the retail/consumer model to be lower but at the same time, we’ll see. If it’s really stacked and has great tech for say $800, im definitely buying it. I prefer a bigger upgrade and higher cost than a smaller upgrade and lower cost because then, it doesn’t really make much sense.
Also, for games such as Dragon’s Dogma 2 which is of very little interest to me in general, if the PS5 Pro can run it at a stable and consistent 60FPS, I would at the very least give it a shot to see if I like the game itself. As long as the console gives me a consistent 1440p/60FPS/HDR image, I will be very happy.
We should know by the Fall for sure either way.
In all honesty, it doesn’t make any sense for Microsoft to have a mid gen console because first and foremost, their current consoles aren’t selling gangbusters which will only decrease and decline due to porting their first party games to PlayStation 4/5 so why spend millions if not tens of millions of dollars on a mid gen console that very few people would buy?
Also, since their current next generation plans seem to be targeting Fall 2026, it would make even less sense to bring out a mid-gen console two years before going to next gen.
PlayStation 4/Pro was my primary gaming console last generation. Microsoft had me (and most people) with Xbox 360 but they completely screwed up in 2013 when they revealed the Xbox One. Just too many restrictions/mandates that despite being overturned already did the damage plus when you’re releasing a weaker console with a peripheral that few wanted at $100 more than the competition, you’re pretty much shooting yourself in the foot. Shame too because Xbox One had the better launch lineup, the better 2014 and 2015 lineups. 2016 was even in my opinion but 2017 through 2020 belonged to Sony.
My plan depending on if the Pro is really good retail/consumer wise is to switch back to PlayStation as my primary gaming console and keep the Xbox Series X as my Game Pass console. If/when Microsoft ports their games to PlayStation 5 day one, then I will be done with Microsoft and Xbox. I will just rent their games from GameFly and if any are digital only, I’ll just buy them when they go on sale for 50% off.
As for next generation Xbox, if they end up being cross-gen for two years like they did this generation, then I can just keep the Series X and in 2028 stay with Sony and PlayStation 6 as my primary gaming console.
Of course, it all remains to be seen on how it will all play out.
I know that the number is double the actual teraflop count. PG2G explained it to me. But with 17-20TF, the console will still be pretty damn beefy. 
Personally, I don’t think selling 10-18m (PS4 sold about 120m) PlayStation 4 Pro consoles is bad at all. If anything, that’s probably better than what Sony was expecting.
PlayStation 5 Pro could be less due to the higher cost but there could also be people who don’t own a PlayStation 5 yet and decide to just go with the Pro model. There will also be some who’ll upgrade automatically like me.
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PC is definitely competition.
Xbox Series struggling to match Xbox One has a lot to do with PC.
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I don’t know the other poster but it’s safe to say it will happen after last year’s showcase. No way in hell Atlus will go 180 and practically sabotage itself. They know Persona in one platform is no longer fine. Third party exclusive gets affected because of sense of betrayal. If it never hit Xbox or Switch, then fine, I can see P6 being PS exclusive. Now, it’s just no point of return.
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